Fastening device



March 17, 1936. do E ET A 2,034,266

FASTENING DEVICE Filed Oct. 7, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H501 mg Mafch 17, 1936 G, MOORE ET AL FASTENING DEVICE Filed Oct. 7, 1953 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 Til gvimntow Lo Mom fi, 522616. E 7 6:5 M1; 2

Patented Mar. 17, 1936 UN! TED STATES PATENT OFFICE FASTENING DEVICE Application October 7, 1933, Serial No. 692,570

-9 Claims. (C 85 with a resilient portion 28 which is adapted to This application is a continuation in part of our pending application, Serial No. 646,984, filed December 13, 1932.

Our invention relates to fastening devices and particularly to fastening devices for use in connection with railway track structures.

One object of our invention is to provide a fastening .device which, when applied to the rail joint of a railway track structure, will automatically compensate for any wear which occurs between the splice bars and the rails and therefore retain .the bars in constant contactwith the rails at all times.

Another object of our invention is to provide a fastening device which when once applied to a structure will require no further attention to insure the constant contact of the parts to which the fastener is applied.

The novel features of our invention will be more fully understood from the following description and claims taken with the accompanying drawings in which:

.Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a railway track structure having a rail joint provided with fasteners embodying our invention;

Fig.2 is a topview of one form of our improved fastener with one form of retaining key applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the fastener shown in Fig. 2 with a modified form of retaining key I applied thereto;

"Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged views .of the retaining key shown iniFig. 2;

'Figs. 6 and7 are enlarged views of the retaining key shown in Fig. 3;

.Figs. 8 and 9 show one method of assembling our device with arail joint;

Figs. 10 and '11 show another modified form of our fastening device.

Referring to the drawings: I5 and I6 desiginate adjoining rails which are connected by the splice bars 11 and I8; and I3 designates a fastening device made in accordance with our invention for retaining "the splice bars in their proper relation with the rails.

Referring especially to Figs. 2 and .3 of the drawings, the fastening device l9 comprises a i :body portion 20 having itsend 2| recessed at 22 and 23 for reception of the retaining means, such as the key 24 shown in Fig. 2, or the key 25 shown in Fig. 3. Shoulders 26and 21 are formed at the endof the recesses 22 and 23, respectively, .so as to retain the fastener in its assembled relation withthe structure to which it is applied. The other end of the bodyportion is provided position against displacement in service.

be distorted during the assembly of the fastener to the-structure. The portion 28 terminates in a free end portion 29 which portion engages the side of the member to which the fastener I9 is applied. The resilient portion 28 is so designed that it will be in spaced relation to the member engagedbythe end portion 29 when the fastener is initially applied thereto, so as to permit the flexing of .the portion 28 during the application of the fastenerto its assembled position, as hereinafter explained.

The retaining key 24 as shown in the drawings comprises a U-shaped member having one face thereof tapered as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A recess '30 is provided in the outer face of the key 24 to receive the end of the fasteningxdevice when the key is inits assembled position thereon, as shown in'Fig. 2 of the drawings. Shoulders 3! and 32 are formed adjacent the recess .31] so as to engage the shoulders 26 andZl of thefastening device [9 when the key 24 is assembled therewith, so as to lock the key 24 in its assembled position against displacement in service. The retaining key 25, as shown in the drawings, comprises a U-shaped member having'one face thereof tapered as clearly shown in Fig. -'6 of the drawings. The slot between the legs of the key is narrowed at the entrance end to provide shoulders 33 and 34 to engage the fastening device l9 adjacent the recesses 22 and 23 when the key 25 is assembled therewith, so as to automatically lock the key 25 in its assembled Referring to Figs. 10 and 11 we show another modification of our fastening device. This device comprises a body portion 35 having recesses 36 in one end thereof to accommodate 'a tapered key '31 and shoulders 38 at the end of the re-- cesses to engage the key 31 and a resilient portion '39 on the other end of the body portion 35 which is distorted upon assembly of the device with the members to be fastened thereby. The key 3'! as shown in the drawings comprises a -U-shaped tapered member having one face thereof tapered as clearly shown in Fig. 11 and having the inner oppositely disposed faces of its legs 40 converging towards each other and then diverging away from each other as clearly shown ln Fig. 10, so that the key 31 may be easily applied to the recessed portion of the body portion 35, by suitable means, and will automatically lock itself in its assembled position against displacement in service.

' as shown in Fig. 8. In this position the recessed end of the fastener projects beyond the splice bar 18 sufficiently so that the recesses 22 and 23 are in the position shown in Fig. 8. The key 2 4' is then inserted inthe recesses 22 and 23, as

indicated in Fig. 8 and forced towards the posi-' tion shown in Fig. 9 by any suitable means, such as a blow from a hammer, until the shoulders 26 and 21 enter the recesses 30 of the key 24, as shown in Fig. 9. In this position the shoulders 3| and 32 adjacent the recess 3|] engage the shoulders 26 and Z1 and therefore locks the key 24 against displacement in service.

The forcing of the key 24 from its initial position', shown in Fig. 8, to its assembled position, shown in Fig. 9, distorts the resilient portion of the fastening device the required amount so that any wear between the splice bars and the rails will'be automatically taken up by the fastener.

The assembling of the fastening device using the key 25 is similar to that just described. When the key 25 is forced to its assembled position the shoulders 33 and. 34 engage the portion of the device [9 adjacent the recesses 22 and 23 and automatically locks the key 25 in its assembled position against displacement in service.

The fastener shown in Figs. 10 and 11 is applied to the structure in the same manner as that described, that is, the recessed end of the body portion 35 will initially project beyond the splice bar I8 sufficiently so that the recesses 36 will assume the position shown in Fig. 11. The end of the legs of the key 31 is then inserted in the recesses 36 as indicated'in Fig. 11 and driven to the position shown in Fig. 10'by any suitable means. The forcing of the key 31 from its initial position shown in Fig. 11 to its assembled position shown in Fig. 10 will cause the legs 40 to be flexed until the portions 4| thereof pass beyond the body portion 35. As soon as the portions 4| pass beyond the body portion 35 the legs will spring towards each other until the fastener is in its assembled position and will thus lock the key against displacement in service.

'It has been found to be expedient when assembling a rail joint using our fastening devices to temporarily draw up the splice bars firmly into position with respect to the rail ends by means of two or more ordinary track bolts and loosely applied nuts, then effectively applying two or more of our fastening devices through the vacant holes of the joint after which the temporary track bolts are removed and replaced by our fastening devices.

The fastening devices, which have been distorted during their application to the track structure have a tendency, due to their resiliency, to resume the condition from which they were sprung during their application to the structure. Therefore the fastening devices will maintain a constant pressure on the members of the structure and constantly urge the bars I! and I8 towards each other to automatically compensate for any wear which may occur between the rail and the splice bars and retain the members of'the track structure in constant contact.

Our devices are so designed that they will enter the ordinary bolt holes in the rail joint and therefore are adaptable to be used in place of or to replace the ordinary bolts now used for holding the splice bars in assembled relation with the rails without in any way changing the construction of the splice bars or the rails.

From the foregoing it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that we have devised an improved fastening device which is simple in construction, which is easily applied to a track structure and which efficiently grips the members thereof and therefore retains them in constant engagement with one another.

While we have shown our invention in a plurality of forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire therefore that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art. or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A fastening device for a rail joint comprising a body portion having a shoulder formed thereon, a resilient portion of substantially the same general contour as the body portion adapted to be distorted upon assembly of the device with a rail joint extending laterally from said body portion adapted to engage one side of the joint, and a member adapted to bear against the other side of the joint and engage said shoulder f during the assembly of the device with the rail joint to distort said resilient portion a predetermined amount only and locking means integral with said member to engage the shoulder of the other side of the structure to distort the fastener during its assembly with the structure and looking means integral with said force applying means to engage the shoulder of the body poition to lock said fastening device in its distorted condition.

3. A fastening device for a rail joint comprising a body portion having a shoulder formed thereon, a resilient portion extending laterally from said body portion adapted to engage one side of the joint, and a wedge-shaped member for retaining said device in its applied condition, said member comprising a pair of resilient legs having substantially parallel inner walls provided with offset portions adjacent the ends of g the leg members, said leg members adapted to be flexed from their normal condition during application of the member to its assembled position and adapted to resume substantially their normal condition after assembly.

4. A fastening device comprising a a resilient I portion adapted to engage a member on 'one side of a structure, a body portion, and a shouldered end portion adapted to pass beyond a member on the other side of the structure and a force applying means adapted to engage said shoulder and the last-mentioned member to distort said resilient portion, and means integral with said force applying means adapted to engage the shouldered end portion to automatically lock said means in its assembled position.

5. A fastening device for a rail joint comprising a body portion having a shoulder formed thereon, an integral resilient portion extending laterally from said body portion adapted toengage one side of the joint, and a wedge-shaped self-locking member adapted to bear against the other side of the joint and engage said shoulder and the body portion in looking relation therewith.

6. A fastening device for a joint comprising a body portion having a shoulder formed thereon, an integral resilient portion extending laterally from said body portion adapted to engage one side of the joint, a wedge member to bear against the other side of the joint and engage said shoulder and a shoulder on said wedge member to engage a member of the fastening device to lock said member against displacement in service.

7. A fastening device for a rail joint comprising a body portion having a shoulder formed thereon, a resilient portion extending laterally from said body portion adapted to engage one side of the joint, a retaining member for engaging said shoulder, said member having a tapered portion for engaging said shoulder in its initial position with respect to the device and having a tapering recessed portion for engaging said shoulder in its final position with respect to the device whereby upon the assembly of the fastening device with a rail joint the resilient portion of the device is distorted and the body portion is moved angularly and the tapered recessed portion of the retaining member compensates for the angularity of the body portion occasioned by said distortion.

8. A retaining device for a rail fastener which is of wedge formation and having a slot opening at one of its edges, the sides of the slot in their normal condition lying in parallel relation and having a portion of the sides offset towards each other adjacent the opening at the edge of the device.

9. A rail joint fastener comprising a bolt member having an elongated body portion provided with a shoulder, a bent end portion constituting a spring element, and a wedge shaped retaining element having integral locking means to engage said shoulder in locking relation therewith.

GEORGE LOOP MOORE. JAMES ROBERT STEELE. 

